Sumo: Onosato becomes yokozuna at record pace after 13 tournaments

Kyodo News

2 days ago

KYODO NEWS - 23 minutes ago - 21:23 | Sports, All
Onosato was promoted to sumo's highest rank of yokozuna on Wednesday, attaining the honor at a record pace after competing in just 13 professional tournaments.
The 24-year-old from Ishikawa Prefecture became the 75th yokozuna and the first Japanese-born grand champion since his stablemaster Nishonoseki, who wrestled as Kisenosato and won his promotion after the New Year meet in 2017.
"I'll devote myself to training in order not to bring the rank of yokozuna into disrepute, and aim for a one-of-a-kind yokozuna," Onosato said during a promotion ceremony at his Nishonoseki stable in Ami, Ibaraki Prefecture.
Onosato ensured his promotion by winning the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament with two days to spare on Friday, achieving the required benchmark of back-to-back championships as an ozeki, the second-highest rank.
The Japan Sumo Association officially approved Onosato's elevation at an extraordinary board meeting on Wednesday.
The previous record holder under the six-tournament calendar introduced in 1958 was the late Wajima, another Ishikawa native, who secured promotion after his 21st meet in May 1973.
Onosato joins 14-time winner Wajima as the only wrestler to become a grand champion after entering the professional ranks from university.
The imposing 192-centimeter, 191-kilogram star, who excels both with his pushing and grappling techniques, has won four Emperor's Cups having claimed his first last May.
"Since entering professional sumo, I've always thought the rank of yokozuna is something I'd absolutely aim for. I'm happy to have achieved it," Onosato said. "I think what I do from here is important."
He was happy with his choice of words after receiving the news from sumo association messengers.
"I thought there was no better phrase. I didn't get nervous and managed to say it commandingly," Onosato said. "I wasn't planning to include (one-of-a-kind) originally but then felt it was the perfect fit."
He is set to forge a rivalry with Mongolian yokozuna Hoshoryu, who reached the rank after January's New Year meet. They will go head-to-head as yokozuna for the first time at July's Nagoya meet at the newly built IG Arena.
Two wrestlers have been promoted to yokozuna in the same year for the first time since 1987 when Hokutoumi and Onokuni rose to the top.
"I hope he carves out a new era," said Hokutoumi, who now goes by Hakkaku and is the current JSA president.
With the sport set to hold an exhibition tour of London in October, Hakkaku said having two grand champions is a timely boost. "It's a good thing. It's not something that happens even if the association hopes for it."
Onosato needed nine tournaments to reach the exalted rank since making his top-tier makuuchi division debut, setting another milestone as he eclipsed the previous record of 11 meets by 32-time Emperor's Cup-winning icon Taiho.
Onosato is the first wrestler to turn yokozuna without a single losing record.
"I hope he leads by example and lifts the entire world of sumo," said Nishonoseki. "It's important to be strong, but I hope he becomes a role model for other wrestlers. I hope he wrestles while being aware (of a yokozuna's responsibilities)."
"He's still developing. He's been building his body properly since entering the stable, making steady efforts. Training does not lie."
Onosato made his professional debut as No. 10 in the third-tier makushita division in May 2023, a head start granted to those with strong amateur records.
He reached ozeki also at a record clip, earning promotion after last September's Autumn meet, his ninth as a professional. His meteoric rise saw him achieve the rank with hair still too short for the "oicho" hairstyle, named after the ginkgo leaf, worn by makuuchi and second-tier juryo wrestlers.
The last Japanese wrestler to rise to yokozuna in his early 20s was Takanohana, who was 22 when he was promoted after the November 1994 Kyushu meet.
"He's always smiling when he comes here. I hope he stays the way he is -- someone loved and supported by everyone," said 50-year-old Keisuke Koyama, who runs a sushi restaurant in the new yokozuna's hometown of Tsubata.
Onosato said he was "able to deliver good news" with his promotion and promised to continue "energizing Ishikawa and Noto" peninsula, devastated by an earthquake on Jan. 1, 2024.
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